(Possible spoilers ahead)
Well, this sucks, but at least I understand the reasoning behind it. According to Kristian Nairn, who plays Hodor on Game of Thrones, neither he nor Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark) will be in the show’s fifth season.
While on his Rave of Thrones tour (oh yeah, Hodor is a DJ, in case you didn’t know), Nairn had this to say to the Australian Broadcasting Company:
MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Fans around the world are hungry for the next series of Game of Thrones, but they’ll have to be patient.
KRISTIAN NAIRN: We’re not actually in Season Five, by the way. We have a season off. We have a year’s hiatus.
MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Really?
KRISTIAN NAIRN: Solely because, I imagine, our storyline is up to the end of the books. … So I get a year off now to do Rave of Thrones and gallivant all over the world.
I know Bran’s storyline has been kind of divisive, but I’m on the record as being a huge fan; it’s Game of Thrones at its most metaphysical and experimental, and I think the show is well-served for taking the occasional break of murder-tits-dragons.